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SOLDIERS' MONUMENT 



CEREMONIES 



THE DEDICATION 



OF THE 



SOLDIERS' MONUMENT, 



NEWTON, MASS 



BOSTON: 

S. CHISJI, FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, 
No. 112 Congress Street. 

1864. 






*US 



THE MONUMENT. 



Feeling that it is good to perpetuate the memory of 
those who give their lives to the service of their country, 
a distinguished citizen of Newton generously offered to 
give the sum of one thousand dollars, provided other 
friends would contribute an additional amount, sufficient 
to erect a Monument, which should stand as a permanent 
testimonial of the high appreciation of the inhabitants 
of Newton for their heroic dead. 

The proposition was cordially welcomed by the people 
of the Town, and at a meeting held August 7th, 1863, 
Hon. J. Wiley Edmands, Henry Bigelow, M. D., Hon. 
Wm. Claflin, Hon. Thomas Rice, Jr., Hon. D. H. 
Mason, Wm. E. Sheldon, Esq., Willard Marcy, Esq., 
J. S. Farlow, Esq., and John C. Chaffin, Esq., were 
chosen a committee, with authority to erect a Monument. 

In order that all might share in this grateful tribute, 
donations of one dollar were solicited from each inhabi- 



SOLDIERS MONUMENT. 



tant, and nearly twelve hundred dollars were received from 
this source. More than eleven hundred children of the 
public schools contributed each a dime ; and the remainder 
necessary to construct the Monument, to grade and sur- 
round the lot with a suitable curb-stone, together with 
the erection of an appropriate Entablature, has been 
cheerfully given by the generous friends of the soldier. 

The work has been completed at an expense of more 
than five thousand dollars. The Monument stands upon 
a lot of land given by the Town, in the Cemetery. 
The Trustees of the latter corporation promise to keep the 
lot in good order and condition. 

The Monument is an octagonal shaft of Quincy 
granite, resting upon a die and plinths of the same 
material, and is twenty-eight feet in height. Upon the 
front of the die are inscribed the words, " In Memoriam 
Perpetuam." At a short distance from the Monument 
an Entablature is erected, bearing the names of more 
than forty soldiers who have died in the service, and the 
inscription, " Pro Patria Mortui Sunt." 

It was deemed accordant with the spirit of the enter- 
prise, as well as suggestive of the duties and responsibili- 
ties of the living, in this juncture of national affairs, to 
celebrate the completion of the Monument with public 
ceremonies, and dedicate it to the memory of the brave 
heroes of Newton, who have fallen, or may fall, in this 



SOLDIERS MONUMENT 



struggle for liberty and good government. Accordingly, 
on the 23d day of July, 1864, this beacon memorial to the 
present and after times was solemnly inaugurated, in 
presence of a large and deeply interested audience, with 
the ceremonies described in the ensuing pages. 

Hon. Thomas Rice, Jr., Chairman of the Board of 
Selectmen, presided on the occasion. 



10 



SOLDIERS MONUMENT. 



NAMES INSCRIBED ON THE TABLET. 



LIEUT. EBEN WHITE, 
ORLESTUS J. ADAMS, 
JOHN ALLEN, 
GEORGE BAKEE, 
GEORGE H. BAXTER, 
WILLIAM R. BENSON, 
THEODORE L. BRACKETT, 
LEROY S. BRIDGMAN, 
EBEN R. BUCK, 
REUBEN L. BUTLER, 
THOMAS W. CLIFFORD, 
GILBERT A. CHENEY, 
FERDINAND CHAMPION, 
SETH COUSENS, JK., 
FREDERICK A. CUTTER, 
WILLIAM FELL, 
WILLIAM L. FREEMAN, 
JOHN FORSYTH, JR., 
WILLIAM L. OILMAN, 
LEOPOLD H. HAWKES, 
PATRICK HAGGERTY, 
THOMAS L. JACKSON, 



ALBERT A. KENDALL, 
JEFFERSON LARKIN, 
CHARLES A. LEAVITT, 
EDWARD LYMAN, 
MICHAEL MARTIN, 
DANIEL H. MILLER, 
STEPHEN L. NICHOLS, 
THOMAS C. NORCROSS, 
WM. L. PARKER, 
ALBERT F. POTTER, 
JOSEPH R. PRATT, 
WILLIAM H. RICE, 
WILLIAM RAND, JR., 
JOHN B. ROGERS, 
DANIEL SAWYER. 
EDWARD H. TOMBS, 
LUCIUS F. TROWBRIDGE, 
MICHAEL VAUGHN, 
CHARLES WARD, 
GRAFTON H. WARD, 
SAMUEL F. WOODWARD, 



soldiers' monument. 11 



ADDRESS. 
by hon. thomas rice, jr. 

Fellow Citizens : 

We have assembled in this quiet and beautiful cemeteiy, 
to dedicate this noble Monument, as a perpetual memo- 
rial of those brave sons and patriots of Newton, who, 
seeing our flag insulted, our homes threatened, our 
country in danger, buckled on their armor, and went forth 
in our defence and in the defence of their country, and 
fell martyrs in the midst of the struggle. 

This Monument is built of the enduring and never- 
crumbling granite, that it may stand as long as the ever- 
lasting hills from whence it was taken ; that we may come 
beneath its shadow and teach our children and children's 
children to honor and revere the names of those inscribed 
upon its tablet. 

"Would to God that the last name had been inscribed — 
that the sacrifices which we have now made were sufficient 
to secure permanent peace ! But, my friends, such is not 
the case. We shall be called upon to add name after 
name to this honorable list, before this wicked and shame- 
ful rebellion is crushed, as it surely will be ; for it 
cannot be that this great nation, which has achieved its 



12 soldiers' monument. 



own independence, and has so long been the asylum of 
the oppressed of all other nations, is now to be destroyed 
b}* its own internal dissensions. That the time may not 
be far distant when this contest shall be over, should 
be the ardent supplication of every Christian ; that it may 
end in the reestablishment of the Union, the fervent 
prayer of every patriot. 

The promise made to our soldiers when they enlisted, — 
" that should any of them be so unfortunate as to fall in 
battle, their remains should be recovered if possible and 
tenderly cared for," — has been faithfully carried out by 
the Town, and most of those who have fallen now repose 
in their native dust. But some still remain on southern 
soil, where or how buried we know not. All we can 
say of them is, they have fulfilled their mission, their 
heroic deeds have passed into history, and their names 
are engraven upon our memories. # 

This is a voluntary tribute of a grateful people to 
perpetuate the memory and to hand down to future gen- 
erations the names of those patriots who have fallen in 
this second struggle for freedom and right. The people of 
the Town have not waited until the war was over before 
recognizing the services of those who have fallen in their 
defence ; but in the midst of the contest, while the govern- 
ment is calling for more men and more mone}', they have 
o-one forward in this noble work. "We have done what the 



soldiers' monument. 13 



Town and people may well be proud of. The Town has 
given and graded this beautiful spot, and the people 
have contributed the money to purchase this memento. 
It has all been done by voluntary subscription, and by 
all classes, from the princely merchant down to the 
humblest scholar in our common schools, that all might 
feel that they have a common interest in this patriotic 
work, and have done something towards perpetuating the 
memory of those who have proved good soldiers, and at 
the command of the Supreme Governor have laid down 
their arms and gone up higher. 

Let us invoke the God of our fathers — that God of 
concord who presided over their deliberations when they 
laid the foundation of the Republic — to incline the hearts 
of our southern brethren to peace and submission to the 
legally constituted rulers of the nation ; but failing this, 
let us pray that same God, who is also the God of battles, 
that he may grant victory upon victory to the Union arms, 
until every vestige of rebellion is swept from the land, 
and the flag of the United States — the symbol of her 
sovereignty — shall again wave, in undisputed supremacy, 
over a free, united, and prosperous people. 



14 soldiers' monument, 



PRAYER. 



BY REV. E. J. YOUNG. 



O Thou, Father of spirits, in whom we live even when 
we die, as we stand upon this thy footstool we look to 
Thee and adore thy providence and supplicate thy blessing. 
Thou ordainest all events. Thou appointest the destiny 
of individuals and of nations. Thou art the God not of 
the dead but of the living, since all live unto Thee. 

We bless Thee for our free institutions, which the sacri- 
fices of our fathers secured and bequeathed to us. And 
we rejoice that the old fire which animated them is not 
extinct, but that Thou has given us new heroes and mar- 
tyrs, who have not counted their lives dear, but have 
cheerfully given themselves for the country. They have 
brought to the altar a more precious gift than any of us, 
since they have laid down their lives for us. "We remem- 
ber with pride and thankfulness all that was heroic and 
excellent in their character, and all that was pure and 
bright in their example. And we come to-day to this hal- 
lowed spot with reverence and affection to commemorate 
their virtues, to celebrate their valor, to honor their mem- 
ory, and to be quickened by their spirit. We come not to 



SOLDIEES' MONUMENT. 15 



weep for them, but to praise them ; to express in prayer 
and psalm, in eulogy and verse, our gratitude and admi- 
ration, and to dedicate to their perpetual remembrance 
this free-will offering of all our people. 

They need no monument to perpetuate their services. 
Their memorial is in our hearts. Their names are im- 
perishably inscribed in the nation's history. Their bodies 
are buried in peace, and their names live forevermore. 
They have consecrated this ground. They have made it 
more illustrious than any pile we can place upon it. They 
have added new glory to our town. And we desire to 
show that we are not ungrateful. We desire to represent 
by some enduring symbol our appreciation of their self- 
sacrifice, and tell to future times the story of their fame. 
We raise no broken shaft, emblem of an unfinished life, 
but a solid column, pointing to the skies, nobler than any 
arch of triumph, because reared in behalf of freedom and 
of humanit}^. Here may their dust repose in peace, where 
the heavens bend gently over them, where the flowers 
bloom, and the birds sing, and the winds chant their 
requiem. To all who shall come hither may this pillar 
speak, declaring how glorious it is to die for our country, 
and inspiring in all a resolute determination to be ever 
faithful to liberty and to the laws. May it stand as a 
sacred shrine, kindling in all hearts an ardent patriotism, 
a deep sense of the sanctity of government, and of the 



16 soldiers' monument, 



obligation of citizens to uphold and defend it. And 
may victory soon change this into an obelisk of triumph, 
and a redeemed and restored Union be our still grander 
monument ! 

God of all grace and consolation, we remember with 
sympathy the afflicted households, who have been called 
to part with those that were dearest to them, who have given 
their jewels — sons, brothers, husbands, fathers, — in this 
sacred cause. May they rejoice that they had such to give. 
May they be glad that they were willing to die. May 
they feel that it is not in vain that they have fallen in 
this great contest for civilization and popular government. 
Thou hast ordained that everything which is most valuable 
to man shall be bought with blood. Thou hast given thy 
dear Son, who has offered himself for us all, and taught 
us that we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 
May these sorrowing ones believe, that it was not by chance 
but by thy appointment that their friends were taken ; that 
they could not have died more gloriously ; that they have 
fallen in a conflict, not only for their own country and 
age, but for the world and for all time. O may the words 
of Him who assured his followers that in his Father's 
house there were many mansions, and that it was expe- 
dient for them that he should go away, comfort and sustain 
their hearts. Let them not mourn that those they loved 
have ceased to be mortal. Remembering that nothing 



soldiers' monument. 17 



dies, and that these have only changed the mode of their 
existence, let them not seek the living among the dead, 
but follow their freed spirits to the world of larger liberty 
and life. And as they have sowed in tears, may they 
yet reap in joy. As they have gone forth weeping, bear- 
ing precious seed, so vaay they come again with rejoicing, 
bringing their sheaves with them. 

Heavenly Father, as we dedicate this cenotaph to our 
brothers' memory, we would dedicate ourselves to the work 
which they have left unaccomplished. We feel that they 
have not gone from us, but that they are with us. And 
seeing that we are compassed about by so great a cloud of 
witnesses, we would pledge ourselves to Thee and to each 
other that their deaths shall not have been for nought. 
May their bravery rebuke our timidity, our selfishness, 
our despondency, and dissipate our doubts and fears. 
May their blood cry to us from the ground not to let the 
great purpose of our fathers fail. Amid the bewilderment 
and agitation of the time, give us eyes to see thy king- 
dom advancing to its completion, to the triumph of its 
principles and the establishment of its institutions. Go 
forth with us to the battle, and make us willing to accept 
and follow tlry guidance. And may success enable us to 
plant a school and a church in every hamlet, and may the 
genius of Liberty walk with untrammelled feet, bringing 
blessings to every inhabitant, throughout the length and 
breadth of the land ! 
2 



18 soldiers' monument. 



Bless our brave bo}'S, whether on the land or on the 
sea. Bless those who are sick and wounded, more even 
in number than our great martyr host. Bless our rulers 
and leaders, and all our people. May we be knit to- 
gether b3 r suffering, and be ready to bear whatever Thou 
shalt lay upon us. Bless our town and all its interests, 
our homes, our schools, our seminaries, and our churches. 
May we be united in a common cause by common labors 
and sacrifices, and may we work together for the promo- 
tion of learning and charity, of good morals and religion. 
Bless those who are now to speak to us, and give them 
words of wisdom and inspiration. And wilt Thou arise 
and have mercy upon our Zion. Make us glad according 
to the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us. Establish 
Thou the work of our hands upon us, that all the causes 
of war may be removed, that every man may have the 
rights to which he is entitled as a man, and that our land 
may be indeed the land of the free, the refuge and the 
asjdum for the oppressed of all nations. Forgive our 
manifold transgressions. Give repentance to those who 
are in arms against us. Make us worthy to live in this 
historic time, and keep us true to the ideas of the republic. 
Inspire us with faith, and hope, and fortitude, and cour- 
age, that we may not be dismayed by any temporary 
embarrassments, but may persevere manfully unto the 
end. And may this convulsion of the elements soon be 



soldiers' monument. 19 



followed by a clearer atmosphere and a purer sky, and our 
flag, no longer protecting the traffic in men as merchandize, 
be the herald of freedom, humanity, and justice, wherever 
it floats. "We ask it as the disciples of Him who was 
slain, praying that Thy kingdom may come and Thy 
will be done on earth as it is in heaven. For Thine 
is the kingdom, and the power, and the gloiy, forever. 
Amen. 



20 soldiers' monument 



CHANT. 

'T is holy ground — 
This spot, ,where in their graves, 
AVe place our Country's braves, 
Who fell in Freedom's holy cause 
Fighting for liberty and laws — 

Let tears abound. 

Here let them rest, 
And Summer's heat and AVinter's cold, 
Shall glow and freeze above this mould, 
A thousand years shall pass away, 
A Nation still shall mourn this clay, 

AVhich now is blest. 

Here, where they lie, 
Oft shall the widow's tear be shed, 
Oft shall fond parents mourn their dead, 
The orphan here shall kneel and weep, 
And maidens grieve where lovers sleep — 

A broken tie. 

Great God in heaven ! 
Shall all this sacred blood be shed, 
Shall we thus mourn our glorious dead ? 



soldiers' monument. 21 



O, shall the end be wrath and woe, 
The knell of Freedom's overthrow, 
A country riven ? 

It will not be ! 
We trust, O God ! Thy Gracious Power 
To aid us in our darkest hour. 
This be our prayer — " O Father ! save 
A people's Freedom from the grave — 

All praise to thee ! " 



SOLDIERS MONUMENT. 



ADDRESS. 

BY HORATIO B. HACKETT, D. D. 

I hate supposed that I should be acting most in 
harmony with the spirit of this service, if I connect the 
remarks which I offer more especially with the memory 
of those Avhom we are met here to commemorate, and the 
reasons that we have for regarding the sacrifice of their 
lives, costly as it is, as incurred for objects which justify 
and ennoble the sacrifice. We have come here for 
an earnest purpose. We desire, by an impressive act, 
to declare our sense of the services and claims of the 
men who have represented us in the camp and on the 
battle-field, as defenders of our rights, as champions 
of the nation's honor and safety, and who have sealed 
their fidelity to this high trust, by giving up their lives 
for us and our common country. Let it be remem- 
bered, too, that there are mourners among us here to- 
day — fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, widows 
and orphans, — whose hearts bleed afresh at the sight of 
the mournful emblems around us. If words may be 
spoken that can alleviate their sorrow, and lead them 
to reflect anew on the manner in which the sacrifices 
they have been called to make are helping to accom- 



soldiers' monument. 23 



plish the great ends of the national struggle, it becomes 
us to utter such words, to suggest such thoughts. 

As to my own part in these proceedings, I need not, 
I hope, be anxious. You require nothing of me, on 
this occasion, I am sure, beyond the performance of an 
act of good will, — the offering with you and for you, 
of a sincere, heartfelt tribute — that I can bring — to 
the dear memory of the patriots, in honor of whom the 
citizens of the town have set apart this sacred en- 
closure and erected this monument, in this sleeping- 
place of the dead. 

The chairman has recounted to us the names of those 
who have entered into the military service of the coun- 
try from Newton, since the beginning of the war, and 
have died in this service. They are more than forty in 
number, and constitute our martyr-roll, as made up to 
the present horn*. Among these names you recognize 
some which are among the names best known and 
honored in the records of this ancient town. It may 
confidently be said — the remark applies to our soldiers 
living as well as dead — that, as a class, they represent 
the public spirit, the enterprise, the intelligence, the 
personal worth and social standing of our people, as 
honorably to us as any equal number of men to whom 
that office could have fallen. Among them are the 
names of some, who, though not born among us, had 



24 soldiers' monument. 



adopted our country as their country, and were willing 
to perform the duties as well as enjoy the privileges of 
American citizenship. 

It will occur, also, to those of you who remember the 
circumstances under which our soldiers have died, that 
the manner of their death illustrates all the common 
hazards and vicissitudes of war. Some perished by 
casualty, in an unexpected way. Some contracted 
disease, and after suffering for weeks or months, laid 
down life's weary burden in tents and hospitals. Some 
fell in the shock of battle itself, with victory almost 
in their grasp ; and others were brought back from the 
field, death- stricken, to languish a while under the pain 
of torturing wounds, and then pass away. It was the 
privilege of some to have with them the presence of 
friends to cheer their last hours, and to receive from 
their lips messages of remembrance and love to those 
in their New England homes whom they should see no 
more; and others must die where they could receive 
only a stranger's sympathy, and be laid in graves far 
away from the homesteads in which life's young 
morning opened on them. 

But much as our departed friends may have differed 
in such incidental ways, they were alike in this : — they 
were all animated by the same generous, patriotic spirit ; 
they all sprung forth at the call of their country, in the 



soldiers' monument. 25 



hour of her distress ; they all earned that epitaph which 
you read on yonder tablet — "Pro patria mortui 
aunt;" they all gave, each one, all that men can 
give — life itself — for their country; and they all 
equally deserve, and shall equally receive, the gratitude 
of every American heart, and the wreath of immortal 
fame. 

The monument which records then- names, is to be 
the chief object of interest in this cemetery, in all future 
time. It shall not only, by its position, engage the first 
attention of those who enter here, but be remembered 
by them as they go hence, last and longest. No tombs 
will ever be built here, on which wealth or art can 
lavish such attractions as to draw aside the feet of men, 
to the neglect of this unadorned structure. Fathers will 
pause at the base of this column, and relate its history 
to their children. It will be told here who these pat- 
riots were ; what sufferings they underwent in then day 
and generation, to make this land an abode of peace, 
happiness, and liberty, to those who should live after 
them ; what principles they upheld in life and in death ; 
and what lessons should be drawn from their example 
by those who enjoy the fruits of their patriotism and 
self-denial. The mute instructor, which stands here 
before us, will pour such teachings on the ear of gene- 
rations yet unborn. The benedictions of a grateful pos- 



26 soldiers' monument. 



terity will rest on the memory of our heroes, and keep 
it fresh forever. 



" How sleep the- brave, who sink to rest, 
By all their country's wishes blest ! 
When Spring with dewy fingers cold 
Returns to deck their hallowed mould, 
She there shall dress a sweeter sod 
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 

By fairy hands their knell is rung, 
By forms unseen their dirge is sung ; 
There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, 
To bless the turf that wraps their clay ; 
And Freedom shall awhile repair 
To dwell a weeping hermit there." 



Then farewell to them, henceforth, as to their living 
presence among us ; but hail to them as they ascend to 
take their places among the unseen influences which 
are to pervade our history, and mould the national 
spirit in all time to come. 

From these more strictly commemorative remarks, I 
proceed to glance, in a hurried manner it must be, at 
tAvo or three considerations of a general character. 

Here we are, on this mid-summer day, almost in the 
middle of the fourth year of this terrible civil war, 



soldiers' monument. ;>7 



which has deluged the land with blood, has- brought 
bereavement and sorrow into thousands and thousands 
of happy homes, has tin-own into disorder the nation's 
finances, and hangs over us still as a cloud which has 
not yet discharged upon us all its violence and fury. 
Our flag may have risen high enough, it has risen high 
enough to show which way its folds point ; but we are 
not at the end yet. Battles are still to be fought. 
Hopes and fears are to agitate the public mind. Other 
victims must be laid on the altar. The voice of sorrow 
must be heard in dwellings which the destroyer has 
passed by hitherto. Our burdens of taxation may be 
increased an hundred fold. We would hope for tilings 
less grievous ; but perhaps before we reestablish our 
government throughout the entire land, it may be found 
that we have as yet dipped our feet only into the brink 
of the waters, which are to surge and dash around us, 
till we see their lowest depths. 

Contemplating such a possible future, and in view of 
such a past as Ave have had already, the question is 
forced upon us, to which I adverted at the beginning : 
Do the objects at stake in t/tis tear require and justify all 
this cost ? In giving a brief answer to this question, I 
prefer to mention moral reasons rather than political, 
though I confess the line which separates them is a nar- 
row one, and though I may lose the advantage of giving 



28 soldiers' monument. 



the answer to the question which many might consider 
the most decisive. 

I believe fully, earnestly believe, in the accountabil- 
ity of one age to another, of one generation of men to 
other and subsequent generations. Out of this principle 
springs an obligation resting on us, to pursue this war 
to its proper end, as strong as ever rested on any people, 
summoned to a great crisis in then affairs. It is a social 
law of the utmost significance, and one that has the 
highest of all sanctions, that men live not, men die not, 
unto themselves ; their actions in one period stretch on- 
ward, and affect the condition of others, for good or evil, 
through all time. Our fathers, in the conflict of the 
Revolution, met that responsibility in then day ; and, as 
a consequence, established for us this government, under 
which, until the hand of parricides was lifted up against 
it, we enjoyed a prosperity which had no parallel in the 
world, and was actually the world's envy ; and yet the 
reasons for the war of the Revolution, in which they 
persevered twice as long as we have been struggling 
now, were utterly trifling compared with those which 
demand of us energy and self-denial to maintain this 
fabric of government and hand it down to those after us. 
Observe the nature of the trust committed by them to us. 
They put this government into our custody, to keep, not 
for one part of the country, but for every part ; not for 



soldiers' monumext. 



29 



New England alone, bnt the West also ; and not for the 
East and West alone, bnt for the South as well as the 
North, and for the South just as much and as distinctly 
as for the North. As parties, therefore, to this compact, 
we who are living now have no more right to consent 
to the destruction of the government at the South than 
at the North; and the man, hi this point of view, who is 
wiling to see the flag of his country trodden hi the dust 
on the soil of South Carolina, is just as false to his 
obligations as the man who would stand by and see it 
dishonored on the soil of Massachusetts. 
^ Nor is this all. This compact, hi its moral implica- 
tions as well as political, meant, that the government 
should be permanent as well as universal. It was won 
at such cost and put in operation, not for the inhabitants 
of this land merely who should live between 1776 and 
1861, butfor aH throughout this vast domain, who should 
ever come forward here to breathe the breath of life and 
be capable of enjoying the blessings of self-government 
and national security. Mark, then, the solemnity of 
our position. These blessings, in order to reach their 
destination, must flow through our hands. We stand in 
the exact and only line of transmission through which 
they can be carried along the track of time to the mil- 
lions unborn, whose condition is to depend on what we 
do or fail to do. If, then, these blessings are stayed in 



30 soldiers' monument. 

their course, at the precise moment when the responsi- 
bility for their preservation is laid on our shoulders, do 
we not incur the reproaches of those who shall follow 
us as well as of those who were before us? We do, 
undeniably ; for, by the same unfaithful act, we frustrate 
the work of our fathers, and we rob their descendants 
of the heritage which was theirs. 

Nor are we at -liberty to forget the relations which 
we sustain to other peoples. Providence has put it 
into our power, if we are true to His orderings, to be- 
come the benefactors of mankind on a scale of grandeur 
unexampled heretofore; not by any open crusade for 
the rights of man, but by the silent operation of our 
example, and the opening of a refuge here for the 
oppressed, of every clime and color, who would 
secure a better condition for themselves and their child- 
ren. Oh ! how often in the fairest portions of Europe, 
as I have seen the poverty and misery, the ignorance 
and degradation of the masses of my fellow-men, ren- 
dered not less but more painful by contrast with the 
brilliant civilization, wealth, and luxury, of the favored 
few — as I have turned my eye from these sights to the 
happy spectacle here at home — how often and earnest- 
ly have I thanked God that he put it into the hearts of 
our ancestors to come here and inaugurate a new type 
of civil polity on these shores. 



soldiers' monument. 31 

Recollect that the governments of the earth, be it as 
it may with the people, the governments which exist so 
extensively for the benefit of those who administer 
them, are not with us, but against us. This is a trite 
theme, I know; but do not the revelations of every 
horn- bring it before us with new and startling vivid- 
ness ? Whence is it that the organs of public intelligence 
which speak for the monarchists of the old world, hold 
up to admiration the murders and piracies of a buccaneer, 
who burns and sinks peaceful ships of commerce, but 
skulks from sea to sea or runs into neutral ports to 
escape an armed foe ; and, when at length the waters 
close over the guilty career of the pirate, lament it as an 
event which excites regret throughout kingdoms and 
empires, and treat it almost as an affront to be avenged ? 
Ah, I see in that spirit evidence which no fact could 
express with greater energy, that my country's govern- 
ment is the people's government as distinguished from 
that of the rulers ; and, while it would degrade none, 
would place all on a juster level in their political rights 
and means of personal happiness. It is no exaggeration 
to say, as is so often said, that the triumph of despot- 
ism would be complete throughout the earth, that the 
cause of republican liberty would be lost for all men, 
and every where, if it be lost here and by us. 

On the issue of this war, too, hangs suspended the 



9.0 soldiers' monument, 



destiny of three or four millions of human beings among 
ourselves, and of the long line of their descendants, 
through an indefinite future. A wonder-working Provi- 
dence, as we may well call it, has made it dependent on 
the success of our arms, whether they shall be free or 
left in hopeless bondage ; whether the promised boon 
in their behalf shall prove a reality, or a delusion and 
mockery of their hopes. 

If, then, being men, we are not ashamed to own that 
nothing human is or should be alien to us, that we are 
bound to our race by ties which we cannot and would 
not sever, do not such relations make it incumbent on 
us to defend a government which has such bearings on 
human welfare, at all hazards, against all assailants at 
home and abroad ? And, if it be true, that 

" The fittest place for man to die 
Is where he dies for man," 

then do not our sons and brothers, who fall in behalf of 
such a cause, add to their title as patriots that, also, of 
friends of then race ? 

If you would find reasons why this rebellion should 
array against itself all the moral instincts of the human 
soul, think, I pray you, — of a thousand things, I had 
almost said, which, for brevity's sake, I can only indi- 



soldiers' monument. 33 



cate. Think, for example, of the pitiful pretense that 
the government was oppressive, though administered in 
fact during almost the entire period of its existence by 
the very class of men who are now in arms against it ; 
think of the perjury of such leaders among them as 
Davis and Breckenridge, who as senators could stand 
up before the nation, and, with an appeal to the heart- 
searching God, swear that they would maintain the 
union of these States inviolate, though in secret they 
had already pledged those same perjured right hands to 
each other for the overthrow of the Union ; and, of that 
conduct, not unlike this, of the commander of their 
armies who betrayed no consciousness of self-degradation 
in being willing to loiter at Washington, week after Aveek, 
and month after month, in order, before his own open 
defection, to find out the military secrets of the govern- 
ment, for the benefit of his accomplices, though as much 
a traitor then as we know him to be noAV, when we 
see his blood-stained sword flashing before our eyes ; 
think of the clandestine transfer to their territory, of 
guns and munitions of war from our forts and arsenals, 
to which their agents put into office by our votes had 
the key ; think of the attempt to slay the President 
elect, on his way to the capital, by a band of hired 
assassins ; think of the massacre of men and women 
on the mountains of East Tennessee, because they 

3 



34 soldiers' monument. 



wished to live and die under the flag of their country ; 
think of the butchery of disarmed, helpless prisoners, 
for no other crime than that of preferring to be free 
rather than slaves ; and, above all, think of the object 
of all this aggravated treason, avowed and boasted of 
by its abettors — the establishing of a great slave 
empire, which being established must inevitably give 
law to the American continent. Do not such men 
deserve the terrible name, which it makes the soul 
shudder to think of — enemies of mankind! Was 
there ever a great national movement, having for its 
object a purpose so wicked, which subsidized so many 
subordinate villanies for its accomplishment? And 
was there ever any emergency in any people's history 
which called like our own, upon all that is manly and 
noble in human nature, to stand up and declare, with 
vehement protest before the universe, the scheme 
shall not be consummated ? 

If any would judge whether we have a cause that is 
worth suffering for and dying for, let them think of the 
condition in which we should be if we fail to crush this 
rebellion and save the republic. There can be no com- 
promise ; it has been tried again and again, and to no 
purpose. How can this word of delusion be any longer 
on any man's lips ? Does any one really think that the 
rebels are fighting for a compromise? If any person 



soldiers' monument. 85 



supposes that, he must have extraordinary ideas of the 
nature of a compromise. Compromise ! of what '. 
They had the same privileges under the common gov- 
ernment that we had, and by their own confession more 
than we had ; and they were assured after they began 
then- work of anarchy that they should have them still, 
if they would lay down their arms and spare the gov- 
ernment. They spurned the offer, because they were 
aiming, it is evident, at something beyond compromise, — 
at something which nothing but the destruction of the 
government could give them. The insurgents deserve, 
at least, the credit of this sincerity : — they have put 
their intentions before us, without equivocation or am- 
biguity ; and if any one among us is deceived it cannot 
be because any artifice on their part has deceived him. 

Every day, by words and by deeds, they thrust back 
upon us this idea of compromise, with scornful defi- 
ance. " No," they say, " we mean to bring you, by 
force of arms, to our terms — surrender of your capital, 
destruction of your nationality, boundaries that will give 
to us all the slave-states, the conqueror's share of the 
common territory and navy, indemnification for losses 
and expenses, the comity of crossing your borders for 
slave-hunting, and the right to adjust, at the point of 
the bayonet, all questions that may grow out of that 
delicate diplomacy ; — we mean to fight till we bring 



36 soldiers' monument. 



you to these terms, or till you, by force of arms, take 
from us the power to enforce such terms." This is 
explicit, and ought to be understood. Is it compromise ? 
Or the subversion of the national sovereignty and inde- 
pendence ? The alternative plainly is that Ave must 
conquer or be enslaved. Give to them, after being sepa- 
rated from us, if that were possible, a respite of twenty 
years or less, for recuperation and preparation, and the 
apathy on our part which would enable them to gain 
that respite, would enable them if not by renewed and 
successful Avar, yet by means of then- political ascend- 
ency and the influence of southcrnizing commercial 
treaties which Ave should be led to form with them, to 
put the heel of their poAver on our necks as their vassals 
in effect, if not in name. I repeat it — Ave must conquer 
or be enslaA^ed. This Avar is a Avar for the freedom 
of the white race as Avell as of the blacks. 

Shall Ave complain of the taxes ? It cannot be said 
that they are severe as yet, compared with those to 
which nations are accustomed to submit in time of Avar. 
But look at the other side. Suppose tAvo nations such 
as the people of the North and South Avould form, Avere 
existing here, side by side. AVho is to pay for the im- 
mense standing army, on which you would rely, though 
with vain reliance, for the maintenance of jicace between 
tAA'0 such nations ? Who is to pay for the fortifications, 



SOLDIERS MONUMENT. 37 



which -would bristle in every port and on every head- 
land, and stretch across the continent from the Pacific 
to the Atlantic ? At whose expense are those intermi- 
nable border wars to be waged, which would be inevi- 
table between powers separated by so many clashing 
interests, and embittered toward each other by the 
memory of the hostility of these days ? If a single 
Alabama can make such havoc of our commerce, what 
must be the fate of that commerce if exposed to the 
depredations of a whole fleet of such scourges of the 
ocean ? Is a civil war, which has continued only three 
or four years, so oppressive ? And what then must be 
a perpetual civil war ? Nay, if it be written in the 
book of fate, I should say rather in that of our own 
degeneracy, that we must succumb, then it is already 
true as a virtually existing fact, that heavier mortgages 
to the Southern Confederacy lie at this moment on the 
ships which sail out of Boston harbor and on these 
broad acres around us which men cultivate who call 
themselves free, than would be required during centu- 
ries for the liquidation of the present Avar debt, though 
that were increased ten thousand times. 

Our soldiers fight and fall, bleed and die, to save us 
and our posterity from this state of things. It is a 
costly sacrifice ; but is it not for worthy ends ? No 
human eye, it is true, can penetrate all the future. But 



SOLDIERS MONUMENT. 



of this we may be certain, that nothing half so fearful 
can lie before ns if we go forward in the path of duty 
and patriotism, as awaits us inevitably if we go back or 
stop here ; and nothing remains for us, therefore, if we 
have any manhood in us, but, with God's blessing, to 
" fight it out on this line " of duty and patriotism, as 
long as there is a shot left in the locker. 

There was a legend in the old Greek history, con- 
nected with the battle of Marathon, which arose, per- 
haps, from a popular superstition, but which, like so 
many of the imaginations of that ingenious people, was 
fraught with truth, and might have been invented by 
the wisest sages, with credit to their sagacity. It is 
full of meaning and instructive for us. An amphithea- 
tre of hills looks down on the plain where the Persian 
horde was trampled in the dust by Grecian valor, and 
the tide of Asiatic despotism and barbarism was rolled 
back from the shores of Em-ope. The surges of the 
sea on which the ships of the invaders rode so proudly, 
may be heard, breaking at the foot of these hills, and at 
a little distance from the shore, may be seen still the 
hillock beneath which the bones of the Athenian con- 
querors were buried. The Greeks, now, believed that 
this great battle was continually reenactcd on this memo- 
rable spot. They believed that as they stood at night 
on these hills, they could see through the mists the 



soldiers' monument- 39 



forms of warriors moving across the plain, and could 
hear the clash of armor, paeans of victory from their 
countrymen, and cries of despair from the vanquished. 
Of the value of this susceptibility of the Greek mind, 
who can doubt ? It was worth more, infinitely, to that 
world-conquering race, than city walls, than bulwarks, 
than navies. It was a power in their history ever 
present, which kept alive the spirit of heroism, and 
nerved them for other conflicts and victories. 

Not unlike this, except more beneficent, more efficient, 
shall be the remembrance of these days to our children 
and children's children. Our battles, too, shall be 
re-fought ; the voices heard in them shall never cease 
to speak to us. Mysterious as it may seem to our finite 
comprehension, yet how often has it been shown to be 
sublimely true — 

" God's most dreaded instrument 
In working out a pure intent 
Is man arrayed for mutual slaughter." 

No nation can be truly great or exist long, without 
a history which has in it soul and inspiration. Account 
for it as you may, there can be no doubt that we had 
nearly outlived our history. The old examples, perhaps 
because we had drifted away so insensibly from the 
principles which they sanctioned, were losing their in- 



40 soldiers' monument. 



fluence over us more and more. The time had come 
when some new shock, a fiercer discipline, was needed, 
to bring out and strengthen the nation's character. It 
is true of national blessings as of individual, that we must 
learn to value them by knowing what it is to labor for 
them and make sacrifices for them. A people whom 
the great Ruler of nations would have live and not per- 
ish, must be brought back to this experience as often as 
they are in danger of forgetting the steps by which they 
became great and prosperous. We are passing through 
the trials which shall perform for us that salutary work. 
Out of this Avar shall arise a juster estimate of the 
transcendent privileges of our American form of govern- 
ment. We are indebted to it already for illustrations 
of a true public spirit as noble, as elevating as the world 
ever saw. We are gathering up from it every day the 
materials of the richest heritage that one age can trans- 
mit to another. Our lost history shall be restored to 
us. Examples of genuine Christian patriotism and 
heroism have appeared during this struggle, worthy 
of perpetual record, — examples of fealty to principle 
which holds everything — life itself — subordinate to 
that supremacy, — deeds of suffering and valor never 
surpassed, performed by men in the ranks, who may 
be counted by thousands and tens of thousands, and per- 
formed by them intelligently, consciously in behalf of 



SOLDIERS MONUMENT. 41 



what is right, against the violation of sacred compacts, 
against injustice and oppression, against treachery to 
future generations, whose interests we are appointed to 
guard. I cannot doubt, as I have confidence in the 
wisdom of the Supreme one, that He means by these 
fiery trials that we should be made a better, a stronger, 
a happier people, and be fitted to act more worthily the 
part as dispensers of blessings to the world, which His 
Providence had seemed to mark out for us. 

I have but one other brief thought to suggest, and 
that may not improperly lead us to retrace our steps, and 
come back once more to the tomb from which we took 
our departure. The example of the dead should in- 
struct the living. The manner of the service which we 
owe to our country may be different, but the measure 
of it is the same to all ; and that has been illustrated in 
the self-devotion of those whose memory we honor here 
to-day. It is well for us to build their monuments ; but 
we bestow the truest honor upon them, when we take 
up the work Avhich by reason of death has fallen from 
their hands, and carry it forward, in their spirit, to its 
consummation. Happy, oh ! thrice happy they, who, 
having fallen for their country, rest now in their graves, 
compared with those who survive a country lost through 
their neglect and cowardice. 

I am reminded of a sentiment of the true-hearted 



42 soldiers' monument, 



patriot, on whom Providence has devolved the task of 
guiding our ship of State through this night of tempest 
and gloom, which should be engraven on all our hearts. 
It was well said by him, at Gettysburg, that the proper 
use of an occasion like this, as we bend over the 
graves of our martyr- soldiers, " is to dedicate ourselves 
anew to the living work of saving the country for which 
they died." We learn our duties most safely by infer- 
ring them from the providential circumstances under 
which life has been allotted to us. Let it then be 
brought home to the heart of every true man and wo- 
man in this land, that our appropriate work in this our 
day and generation is, by every patriotic duty performed, 
by self-denial practised, by life itself surrendered if need 
be, to thwart this rebellion, and save our imperilled 
country and its liberties, to the glory of God and the 
crood of mankind. 



soldiers' monument. 43 



HYMN. 

Soft winds are mournfully sweeping, 

Whispering oak branches wave, 
Where your loved ashes are sleeping, 

Forms of the true and the brave ! 
Silence reigns breathless around you, 

All your stern conflicts are o'er, 
Deep is the sleep that hath bound you, 

Trumpet shall rouse you no more. 

Sweet and serene be your slumber ! 

Hearts for whose freedom ye bled, 
Millions, whom no man can number, 

Tears of sad gratitude shed. 
Never shall morn, brightly breaking, 

Enter your chambers of gloom, 
Till the last trumpet awaking, 

Sound through the depths of the tomb 

Earth's shadowy years soon will leave us, 

Heaven's blissful morn then arise ; 
Sorrow's night then will forsake us — 

Farewell to all weeping eyes. 
There will the Lord our Redeemer, 

Unveil his bright, beaming face, 
Shining in glory serener, 

Fairer than earth's loveliest rays. 



44 soldiers' monument. 



POEM. 



BY REV. S. F. SMITH, D. D. 



Softly, their labors done, the patriots rest, 
Honored in life, and in their memory blest ; 
Living, they earned and won a glorious name ; 
Dying, they found at once immortal fame. 
Spring o'er their relics strews its fragrant flowers, 
Smiles in the sunshine, weeps in dews and showers; 
And Summer spreads its freshest, sweetest bloom, 
Green as their memory o'er their honored tomb. 

And Nature wraps around them, where they rest, 

The dear old flag, in dyes she loves the best; 

Blue, in the starry arch that bends above, 

Like mothers, bowed to kiss the babes they love ; 

"White, — when the earth is mantled o'er with snow, — 

A bridal honor for the brave below ; 

And red, when round their couch sweet Autumn weaves 

A burnished beauty with her fiery leaves. 

The glorious banner wraps the rolling year, 

And spreads its folds around the sleepers here, 

As thousands weep the heroes who have bled, 

For each a tear, a blessing on each head. 



SOLDIERS MONUMENT. 45 



From granite crypts kind Nature fondly rears 
The pillar, hewed by love and wet with tears ; — 
The fitting record of the men who stood 
True to the right, 'mid fire and death and blood; 
And history writes their names high on her scroll, 
Heroes, of granite will, but loving soul. 

Stand, massive record, as the heroes stood, 

When swept the storm, when swelled the angry flood ! 

The names, engraven on the rock, are thine ; 

The men who bore them grateful hearts enshrine. 

Dew-drop and rain and grateful tear may dry, 

But noble deeds once done can never die. 

Though marble shattered may betray its trust, 

And pile and column crumble into dust, 

Heroic deeds a deathless pile shall raise ; 

A land redeemed preserves their lasting praise. 

Not here alone their monument is reared, 
To memory sacred and by love endeared; 
Where'er the oppressed the bonds of sorrow wear, — 
Where'er the slave lifts up his humble prayer, 
Their high memorial lives, in fetters riven, — 
A pile, whose base is earth, whose crown is heaven. 
These were the men who firm in battle stood, 
The men who shrunk not from the flame or flood ; 
Who gave to Freedom's cause their noblest powers. 
Born for the nation's need, they died for ours. 
Weep for their memory. Would they had not died ! 
Sing for their memory! — 'tis the nation's pride. 



46 soldiers' monument. 



They bore the toil, they earned the grand eclat ; 
Proclaim their memory with the glad hurrah. 

No hostile foot this sacred soil shall tread; 
No hostile banner wave above the dead ; 
No warlike clarion break their sweet repose, 
Calm as the dew-drop, resting on the rose. 
But grateful tears their relics shall bedew, 
The loved, the brave, the trusted, and the true. 
Mothers and maidens, gathered round the tomb, 
Shall sigh and sing the soldier's " welcome home." 
Mourning the fallen, to their country given, 
With sweet will yielding to the will of Heaven. 

" O grief unspeakable ! " yet faith can see 
Rifts in the cloud — " Our country, 't is for thee ! " 
And thus, resigned, with calm and holy trust, 
Mother and maiden leave the hallowed dust ; 
With woman's faithful heart their grief restrain, — 
Willing to make such sacrifice again. 

Breathe soft, O winds, around this treasured trust ! 
Keep, holy earth, this loved and honored dust ! 
Sing your sweet paeans, birds of varied wing ! 
In heaven's free air let warbled freedom ring. 
Keep nightly watch, ye stars, above their bed, 
Teaching the living, smiling o'er the dead ! 
Though hid by tempests, gently still ye shine, 
Keeping in heaven's blue field your march divine ; 
Though clouds may darken, though the tempest lowers, 
Heaven keeps its stars unharmed, as we shall, ours. 



SOLDIERS MONUMENT. 47 



Clouds cannot quench them ; God's great word, once given, 
Their light shall flash again, full in mid heaven; 
And every star that keeps its shining way, 
Glimmers, prophetic of the coming day. 

Lift your tall crests, ye trees, in verdant pride ! 

A hundred storms your sturdy trunks have tried ; 

Tempests have beat in fury round your head, 

But still ye cheer the living, shade the dead ! 

So when the raging blast has spent its power, 

And clouds no more in angry blackness lower, 

The nation, saved, shall bloom in peace anew, 

Its genial shade the weary pilgrim woo ; 

Thousands repose beneath each sheltering bough, 

Made stronger by the blasts that toss it now; 

The anxious watcher mourn no kindred slain, 

The soldier seek his home and babes again; 

The sword be sheathed, and war's dread tumult cease, 

And spotless banners wave in joy and peace. 



48 soldiers' monument. 



HYMN. 

BY REV. JS. F. SMITH, D. D. 

Take these choice treasures, gentle earth, 
And shield them in thy faithful breast, 

Gathered like gems of priceless worth, 

And brought among thy dead to rest. 

Take this new honor, reared in love, 

"Where sleep the trusted and the brave, 

Pointing the mourner's faith above, 

To Him who takes, to Him who gave. 

Round this fair shaft let summer leave 
Its fragrant airs at morn and even, 

And golden clouds in sunlight weave 
Pathways of glory into heaven. 

Again the flag of peace shall float 

O'er all the land, from sea to sea; 

O'er all the land shall swell the note 
Of Freedom's final Jubilee. 

"We build the shrine, we sing the brave, 
Yet own how vain are human boasts ; 

In God alone is power to save, 

Our trust is in the Lord of Hosts. 



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